author - "Louis Ginzberg"
o whathappened under their eyes, they drew from the fountain-head ofthe past. The events in the ancient history of Israel, which wasnot only studied, but lived over again daily, stimulated thedesire to criticize it. The religious reflections upon naturelaid down in the myths of the people, the fairy tales, which havethe sole object of pleasing, and the legends, which are thepeople's verdict upon history--all these were welded into oneproduct. The fancy of the Jewish people was engaged by the pastreflected in the Bible, and all its creations wear a Biblical huefor this reason. This explains the peculiar form of the Haggadah.
But what is spontaneously brought forth by the people is oftenpreserved only in the form impressed upon it by the feeling andthe thought of the poet, or by the speculations of the learned.Also Jewish legends have rarely been transmitted in theiroriginal shape. They have been perpetuated in the form ofMidrash, that is, Scriptural exegesis. The teachers of theHaggadah, cal
o whathappened under their eyes, they drew from the fountain-head ofthe past. The events in the ancient history of Israel, which wasnot only studied, but lived over again daily, stimulated thedesire to criticize it. The religious reflections upon naturelaid down in the myths of the people, the fairy tales, which havethe sole object of pleasing, and the legends, which are thepeople's verdict upon history--all these were welded into oneproduct. The fancy of the Jewish people was engaged by the pastreflected in the Bible, and all its creations wear a Biblical huefor this reason. This explains the peculiar form of the Haggadah.
But what is spontaneously brought forth by the people is oftenpreserved only in the form impressed upon it by the feeling andthe thought of the poet, or by the speculations of the learned.Also Jewish legends have rarely been transmitted in theiroriginal shape. They have been perpetuated in the form ofMidrash, that is, Scriptural exegesis. The teachers of theHaggadah, cal